Kelly Clarkson

According to a 2011 New York Times profile, Kelly Clarkson tried to make it as a singer in Los Angeles, but she ended up living in her car after her apartment caught fire. Proving that, as she sings in her hit song, Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” Clarkson returned to her home state of Texas, where she auditioned for American Idol. She went on to become the winner of the show’s first season, launching her mega-watt career.